Today: Barneys's Multi-Designer Co-op Bonanza

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While the downtown set may still think of trunk shows as the domain of uptown ladies of a certain class, Barneys has gathered Alexander Wang, the Vena Cava gals, Richard Chai, and more for its special Trunk-a-Palooza event.

As anyone who's attended (or covered) a trunk show knows, it can be a rather ho-hum affair if you're not planning to purchase vast amounts of a designer's collection, which is mostly the kind of thing that only social butterflies and uppercrust denizens can really afford to do. Granted, there is often the chance to meet the designer -- which, in this hustle-and-bustle age, is no small perk -- but overall, it's not hard to imagine that the series of trunk shows that department stores put on to unveil the next season's in-store stock may have diminished in popularity among the younger, downtown-focused set.

Tonight, however, Barneys is aiming to change all that by staging the epic Trunk-a-Palooza event, which will feature the department store's fall selections from a whopping 10 different labels all on display on the Co-op floor of Barneys' Madison Avenue store at the same time -- from 2-8PM. According to WWD, the lines include 3.1 Phillip Lim, Helmut Lang, Richard Chai-LOVE, Rag & Bone, VPL, Alexander Wang, Vena Cava, Shipley & Halmos, Wayne, and ALC.

The kicker: From 5-8PM, nearly all of the designers involved with said collections will be making personal apperances to show off the wares. With the exception of Phillip Lim, there will be a cornucopia of talented indies all in one room -- from Alexander Wang and Richard Chai to Lisa Mayock of Vena Cava and Marcus Wainwright and David Neville of Rag & Bone -- a rare occurrence indeed, and not one to be missed.